Lily and James Through the Years
by madittude99
Summary: One-shot of Lily Evans and James Potter through their years at Hogwarts. May continue throughout the years after they graduate if requested.


_First Year_

"Hey! Hey- Evans!" James called after a girl with red hair that was swinging at around the middle of her back as she walked next to her best friends, Severus and Alice. She swung around, though she knew who was shouting after her in the middle of the Entrance Hall.

"Yes?" She asked, eyebrows raised. She had a striking attitude and she crossed her arms at the sight of James Potter with his stupid untidy black hair and glasses that were lopsided on his face. He corrected his glasses quickly now that she had stopped to listen to what he had to say.

"Go out with me, Evans," James grinned brilliantly, obviously expecting a yes.

"No," she replied simply, turning to walk away again. Alice stifled a giggle at the look of disbelief on James's face while Severus sneered to himself at this boy's arrogance.

A few groups of students milling around had turned to watch, apparently entertained with the proceedings. James frowned to himself as Lily walked away with her friends, one of which he knew to be a Slytherin in their year whom they had briefly sat with on the train and who was in his Herbology and Potions classes. James had had his eyes on Lily since they first met in that compartment on the Hogwarts Express. He vowed to get this girl to go out with him.

And so it began.

_Second Year_

"How was your summer, Evans?" A voice asked as the boy it belonged to appeared quite literally out of nowhere and sat on the bench next to her in the Great Hall.

"Go away," she replied, barely sparing James Potter a glance.

"Ouch," snickered one of Potter's three friends, Sirius Black. James whipped his head around to glare at his dorm mate.

"Shut up," he told him, turning back to Lily. "No need to be so rude, Evans. It was just a simple question."

"Fine," Lily said curtly, without elaborating. She began to pick at her food, as the start-of-term feast had just started.

"Fine what?" James asked confusedly, reaching to add food onto his own plate.

"My summer was fine," she said stiffly, turning to converse with her best friend, Alice.

"Are you finally going to come to your senses and go out with me this year, Evans?" James interrupted her again.

Lily turned back to him, annoyance clearly showing on her face now. "No. Leave me alone, Potter."

"You will! One day, Evans. One day you'll go out with me," James said with an arrogant look on his face as he and his friends began to share stories about their summers.

_Third Year_

Lily was sitting in a squashy armchair in the Gryffindor common room with her feet up and her Care of Magical Creatures homework propped up on her lap. Her quill was fast-moving upon the parchment and you could tell that she did not want to be disturbed.

However, Lily Evans did not always get what she wanted.

"Hey, Evans," James Potter greeted as he sat on an unoccupied stool next to her chair. One of his friends, Remus Lupin, who Lily actually didn't mind being around because he was quite kind and mature compared to the others in their group, stood next to him.

She looked up at James for a moment before turning to the boy standing next to him. "Hello Remus," she smiled pleasantly.

"Hi, Lily," he grinned back at her, knowing full well how James was going to react to being ignored.

"I said hello to you, too, Evans!" said James indignantly.

"And I ignored you, Potter," she mocked his whine as Remus snickered.

James shrugged this off with a glare towards Remus. He now addressed Lily. "What are you doing?"

"Homework," she replied shortly, turning back to the parchment in her lap.

"What kind of homework?" he persisted annoyingly. Lily sighed in exasperation. She was losing her train of thought.

"What do you _really _want, Potter?" she finally asked, rolling her eyes in irritation.

"Come to the first Hogsmeade visit with me, Evans," he proposed dramatically, giving her his best puppy dog eyes. He frowned, noticing that her face didn't even give the slightest twitch as she answered with a 'no'. How was she so immune to him? All of the other girls were begging him to go to Hogsmeade with them and yet, the girl that he actually _wanted _to take would not go with him.

_Fourth Year_

Lily Evans was beginning to get fed-up with James Potter and his constant pleas for her to go on a date with him. She had been studying in the library with Severus when he came up to her and bothered her while she was doing her homework _yet again_.

"Evans," he nodded at her and then turned to Severus. "_Snivellus_," he said with distaste. He could not understand why Evans was friends with such a slimy git.

Lily glared at him, "His name is _Severus_."

"Oh I know," he grinned arrogantly and walked away, joining Remus and Peter at a table on the other side of the library. _Good riddance, _she thought.

Later that day, he found her in the corridor. "Evans," he nodded at her again.

"What?" she asked, thoroughly annoyed.

"Why won't you go out with me, Evans?" James asked her curiously, tilting his head to the side like a confused puppy. Lily forced herself not to think it was cute.

"Because you're conceited and arrogant. You're immature and mean just because you can be, walking around this castle like you own the place. I don't like it," she frowned, all of the reasons that she didn't like James Potter flooding her mind.

"I do not!" James protested, looking offended. "You don't know me like you think you do." He glared at her before turning around and walking in the opposite direction.

It was quite a peculiar day, Lily thought. It was the first time that one of their encounters resulted in _James _being angry and not her.

_Fifth Year_ (I do not own the bolded print, J.K. Rowling does. Although, I have cut little pieces out here and there so that it doesn't look like it's in Harry's point of view).

**"I'm bored" said Sirius. "Wish it was full moon."**

**"You might," said Lupin darkly from behind his book. "We've still got Transfiguration, if you're bored you could test me. Here―" and he held out his book.**

**But Sirius snorted. "I don't need to look at that rubbish, I know it all."**

**"This'll liven you up, Padfoot," said James quietly. "Look who it is.****"**

**Sirius's head turned. He became very still, like a dog that has scented a rabbit.**

**"Excellent," he said softly. "**_**Snivellus**_**."**

**Snape was on his feet and stowing his OWL paper in his bag. As he left the shadows of the bushes and set off across the grass, Sirius and James stood up.**

**Lupin and Wormtail remained sitting: Lupin was still staring down at his book, though his eyes were not moving and a faint frown line had appeared between his eyebrows; Wormtail was looking from Sirius and James to Snape with a look of avid anticipation on his face.**

**"All right Snivellus?" said James loudly.**

**Snape reacted so fast it was as though he had been expecting an attack: dropping his bag, he plunged his hand inside his robes and his wand was halfway into the air when James shouted, "**_**Expelliarmu**_**s!"**

**Snape's wand flew twelve feet into the air and fell with a little thud in the grass behind him. Sirius let out a bark of laughter.**

**"**_**Impedimenta!**_**" he said, pointing his wand at Snape, who was knocked off his feet halfway through a dive towards his own fallen wand.**

**Students all around had turned to watch. Some of them had got to their feet and were edging nearer. Some looked apprehensive, others entertained.**

**Snape lay panting on the ground. James and Sirius advanced on him, wands raised, James glancing over his shoulder at the girls at the water's edge as he went. Wormtail was on his feet now, watching hungrily, edging around Lupin to get a clearer view.**

**"How'd the exam go, Snivelly?" said James.**

**"I was watching him, his nose was touching the parchment," said Sirius viciously. **

**"There'll be great grease marks all over it, they won't be able to read a word."**

**Several people watching laughed; Snape was clearly unpopular.**

**Wormtail sniggered shrilly. Snape was trying to get up, but the jinx was still operating on him; he was struggling, as though bound by invisible ropes.**

**"You - wait," he panted, staring up at James with an expression of purest loathing, "you - wait!"**

**"Wait for what?" said Sirius coolly. "What're you going to do, Snivelly, wipe your nose on us?"**

**Snape let out a scream of mixed swear words and hexes, but with his wand ten feet away nothing happened.**

**"Wash out your mouth," said James coldly. "**_**Scourgify!**_**"**

**Pink soap bubbles streamed from Snape's mouth at once; the froth was covering his lips, making him gag, choking him -**

**"Leave him ALONE!"**

**James and Sirius looked round. James's free hand immediately jumped to his hair.**

**It was one of the girls from the lake edge. She had thick, dark red hair that fell to her shoulders, and startlingly green almond-shaped eyes.**

**"All right, Evans?" said James, and the tone of his voice was suddenly pleasant, deeper, more mature.**

**"Leave him alone," Lily repeated. She was looking at James with every sign of great dislike. "What's he done to you?"**

**"Well," said James, appearing to deliberate the point, "it's more the fact that he **_**exists**_**, if you know what I mean****."**

**Many of the surrounding students laughed, Sirius and Wormtail included, but Lupin, still apparently intent on his book, didn't, and nor did Lily.**

**"You think you're funny," she said coldly. "But you're just an arrogant, bullying toerag, Potter. Leave him**_**alone.**_**"**

**"I will if you go out with me, Evans," said James quickly. "Go on****…**** go out with me and I'll never lay a wand on old Snivelly again."**

**Behind him, the Impediment Jinx was wearing off. Snape was beginning to inch towards his fallen wand, spitting out soapsuds as he crawled.**

**"I wouldn't go out with you if it was a choice between you and the giant squid," said Lily.**

**"Bad luck, Prongs," said Sirius briskly, and turned back to Snape. "OI!"**

**But too late; Snape had directed his wand straight at James; there was a flash of light and a gash appeared on the side of James's face, spattering his robes with blood. James whirled about: a second flash of light later, Snape was hanging upside-down in the air, his robes falling over his head to reveal skinny, pallid legs and a pair of greying underpants.**

**Many people in the small crowd cheered; Sirius, James and Wormtail roared with laughter.**

**Lily, whose furious expression had twitched for an instant as though she was going to smile, said, "Let him down!"**

**"Certainly," said James and he jerked his wand upwards; Snape fell into a crumpled heap on the ground. Disentangling himself from his robes he got quickly to his feet, wand up, but Sirius said, "**_**Locomotor mortis!**_**" and Snape kneeled over again at once, rigid as a board.**

**"LEAVE HIM ALONE!" Lily shouted. She had her own wand out now. James and Sirius eyed it warily.**

**"Ah, Evans, don't make me hex you," said James earnestly.**

**"Take the curse off him, then!"**

**James sighed deeply, then turned to Snape and muttered the counter-curse.**

**"There you go," he said, as Snape struggled to his feet. "You're lucky Evans was here, Snivellus―"**

**"I don't need help from filthy little Mudbloods like her!"**

**Lily blinked. "Fine," she said coolly. "I won't bother in the future. And I'd wash your pants if I were you,**_**Snivellus**_**."**

**"Apologise to Evans!" James roared at Snape, his wand pointed threateningly at him.**

**"I don't want**_**you**_**to make him apologise," Lily shouted, rounding on James. "You're as bad as he is…"**

**"What?" yelped James. "I'd NEVER call you a - you-know-what!"**

**"Messing up your hair because you think it looks cool to look like you've just got off your broomstick, showing off with that stupid Snitch, walking down corridors and hexing anyone who annoys you just because you can - I'm surprised your broomstick can get off the ground with that fat head on it. You make me SICK."**

**She turned on her heel and hurried away.**

**"Evans!" James shouted after her. "Hey, EVANS!"**

**But she didn't look back.**

**"What is it with her?" said James, trying and failing to look as though this was a throwaway question of no real importance to him.**

**"Reading between the lines, I'd say she thinks you're a bit conceited, mate," said Sirius.**

**"Right," said James, who looked furious now, "right -"**

**There was another flash of light, and Snape was once again hanging upside-down in the air.**

**"Who wants to see me take off Snivelly's pants?"**

Later that day, Lily Evans was sitting in the Library, studying for her Transfiguration exam when a distressed-looking boy none other than Severus Snape walked in.

"Lily!" he exclaimed in obvious relief. "I've been looking everywhere for you! Look, I'm really―"

"I don't want to hear what you've got to say, _Snivellus._"

Severus' expression hardened. "So that's how it is now, huh? You're going to join _them_?"

"I never said that," Lily retorted coldly. "I will not join them because I do not talk to people who are conceited and arrogant. I also do not talk to people who insult me out of spite. Hence the reason that I no longer speak to you." Lily began gathering her books and parchment, throwing her quill into her bag.

"Goodbye Severus." She did not turn to look back at his expression before leaving the library.

_Sixth Year_

Alone in the Gryffindor common room sat a redheaded girl working on her Transfiguration homework. It was a particularly difficult lesson and she just couldn't seem to understand it. They were studying how to transfigure an animagus back to their original form. She sighed and decided that it would be a good time to take a break from Transfiguration and begin to work on Charms. Charms was her favorite because it was the subject she excelled most in.

"Evans!" A loud voice shouted from the doorway. Lily jumped in her seat at the sudden outburst and whipped around to glare at the intruder. His glasses were crooked on his face and his hair was sticking up all over the place as if he had just been attacked, though Lily knew that this was not the case. His hair just grew that way.

"What do you want, Potter?" She asked scathingly.

"Have you been sitting there for _four hours_?" James' mouth was agape.

"What?" Lily asked, confused.

James walked over to the couch. "I left four hours ago and you were sitting there doing homework. I come back four hours later and you're still sitting there, doing homework. Aren't you finished yet?" James laid back on the couch, putting his feet up on the armrest and folding his arms behind his head.

"Well―no," this conversation hadn't been going at all like Lily thought it would. She was actually having a normal interaction with James Potter and she wasn't even angry. "I've been doing Transfiguration."

"For _four hours_?" He asked in disbelief, his eyebrows raising towards his hairline.

"_Yes_," Lily said, exasperated. She was starting to get a little bit annoyed now.

"But… why?" He frowned, looking genuinely confused. Lily didn't want to admit to James ― who was the best at Transfiguration ― that she was having trouble with the homework. James looked on at Lily's reddening cheeks and came to a realization.

"Do you need help?" He asked gently, sitting up straight.

Lily was so embarrassed that all she wanted to do was run up to her dormitory and hide under her covers. She was also surprised that James Potter wasn't acting like a complete arse and rubbing it in her face that he was better at Transfiguration than her. "No, of course not," she lied quickly, turning back to her notes.

"Lily," James said softly, standing up and walking over to where she was sitting at the desk in the corner. Lily was shocked. This was the first time he was addressing her by her first name. "Do you need help?" he repeated.

Lily looked up at James and was startled by how close his face was to hers. She looked into his dark eyes, so unlike her own. They held a surprisingly gentle emotion in them. Her eyes flickered down towards his lips and was overcome by a strong desire to kiss James Potter. She immediately shook this absurd feeling off and looked down at the desk. "Yes," She admitted.

"Okay then," he said cheerfully, breaking away to grab a chair and pull it up next to hers. "Oh, I love this lesson," he sighed happily.

Lily looked at him amusedly, "Why?"

"Because animagi are the best! They're very interesting," He winked like he was hiding something. James Potter and his three friends always walked around Hogwarts like that had some big secret.

"Okay…" Lily said slowly, shaking her head. She would never understand James Potter.

_Seventh Year_

"Lily! Hey, Lily!" James Potter called after Lily Evans down the corridor. Lily shook off the sense of déjà vu from the past years of him acting this way and turned around to face him.

She took a moment to appreciate his flushed face and the way his robes were rumpled as he ran his fingers through his hair. Lily was slightly ashamed to say that she knew James Potter well enough to know that he was not doing this to try to impress her. When James was trying to impress a girl or simply just trying to look cooler, he would mess up his hair in the back but when he was nervous, he would run his fingers through it.

"Yeah?" She answered pleasantly, not having the energy to be rude to him that day. She had stayed up all night studying.

James looked surprised at the kind note in her voice. This was not at all how he had pictured this conversation to be. "Well… uhm- you see―"

"James, spit it out," Lily chuckled at his nervousness and James's eyes snapped to hers in shock. The fact that she wasn't hexing him already was enough to encourage him to continue.

"Well I was wondering if you would, uh, like to hang out sometime? Maybe go to Hogsmeade with me? There's a visit scheduled for next week. Well of course you already knew that. You don't have to go with me if you don't want to. Or if you're busy we can hang out another time… or not. Or if you don't want to go to Hogsmeade, we could stay here… You know what? You probably already have plans. Sorry for bothering you." Lily's lack of response was making him nervous and he began to babble.

Embarrassed beyond belief, James turned to leave, completely red in the face and feeling flustered.

"James!" Lily laughed, grabbing his elbow and spinning him around. "You didn't even give me a chance to―"

"Say no?" James finished dully. "It's all right. See you later, Lily." James spun around quickly this time, hoping to save himself from anymore embarrassment. He got halfway down the corridor before he heard a deep sigh and quick footsteps behind him. A hand swung him around again and suddenly, soft lips were pressed to his. The one thing James Potter hoped to feel but never thought he _would _feel was Lily Evan's lips against his own. He stumbled back in surprise before leaning into the kiss with enthusiasm, half-terrified that she would change her mind. His hands reached down and rested on her hips as her arms reached up around his neck, fingers stroking the back of it. James could feel goosebumps arising on his neck and smiled into the kiss before they finally broke away.

"I'll take that as a yes then?" He asked, still grinning.

"Yes," she giggled, rolling her eyes.

Little did they know that an angry Severus Snape was watching from the shadows.


End file.
